By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews For years, payments providers have struggled to make money on person-to-person payments, and now Square Inc. is taking a swing at the problem. Starting now, Square is offering to make instant transfers of Square Cash funds into users’ bank accounts if they pony up a 1% …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Tech companies like Square Inc. made their reputations by rolling out simple card readers that linked to Apple Inc.’s

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Mobile-payments services have plenty of issues with adoption and usage, but battery fires aren’t likely to be among them. While it’s true that a consumer can’t use a mobile wallet if he’s afraid his smart phone will ignite, payments experts say the problem that developed last …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Nearly three-quarters of mobile-phone owners have made some sort of payment with their devices, but in-app, bill, and person-to-person payments all exceed in-store payments, according to new findings from First Annapolis Consulting Inc. The Annapolis, Md.-based consulting and research firm says 74% of mobile-phone-using consumers reported in …

With a few exceptions, mobile wallets have so far held scant allure for consumers. Why is that, and what could change it? Most mobile-wallet managers don’t like to talk about it, but their products have a consumer problem—in that people who have the necessary smart phones just aren’t all that …

The fraud bug struck debit card issuers last year, and the illness spared neither signature nor PIN-based varieties of debit. Researchers identified a big increase in skimming as part, but only one part, of the cause. According to the 2016 Debit Issuer Study commissioned by Discover Financial Services’ Pulse electronic …

When Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. demonstrated their streamlined EMV technology at some West Coast groceries last month, the payments industry focused on the potential for speedier checkouts and happier cardholders. But another implication of Visa’s Quick Chip and MasterCard’s M/Chip Fast technology is that it could boost the number …

Slowly but surely, the big merchants that make up the stalled Merchant Customer Exchange LLC retailer consortium are finding their own way in mobile payments. The latest example is MCX stalwart CVS Health Corp., which in mid-August announced the launch of its CVS Pay mobile wallet. The Woonsocket, R.I.-based chain …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews For drivers passing through the Chicago area, there’s now an app that will handle payment on the 292-mile-long ribbon of toll roads snaking through 12 counties in Northern Illinois. FastToll, from a Las Vegas-based developer called Pragmistic LLC, arrives just ahead of the Labor Day weekend, …

• Merchant processor Global Payments Inc. said it will provide a Bluetooth reader capable of EMV and contactless mobile payments to Mary Kay Cosmetics Ltd. consultants in Canada. The reader works with Apple and Android smart phones and tablets. • Global payments platform Payza has integrated Canada’s Interac debit network, …